I propped the kitchen window open with an empty Lyles Black treacle tin, as one does. It’s now possible to roll down the insect blind without impediment following my disposal/reorganisation/cleaning activity yesterday. The window has struts to hold it open but I’m not sure we need it that far open at this stage of the game. The nighttime temperature is significantly cooler than last week and the days are very comfortable.
The Early Walk took an almost identical format to the day before except there were no FreeLoaders as they’d dutifully gone home and back to work. We walked to the end of the Promontory and then down to the rocky outcrop at the end of Alonaki Beach. As we were walking down the beach I could make out strange, dim, red lights which I couldn’t accurately place. My brain wanted to put them on the road as it made sense for them to be the rear lights of a car. I kept looking the more we approached. We eventually were close enough to make out the embers of fires lit the previous day to dispose of branches thrown up on the beach during winter storms or washed down from the mountains when the now dry streams turned into raging torrents. Mystery solved. Alien tracks indicated the activities of other strange machines: similar to the one which has redistributed the sand on Grammeno Beach.
Luis and Isabella were off the lead. Of the two, Isabella was easier to spot being bigger and Luis disappeared into the obscurity. It’s worth noting that, even at 04:45 it’s dark but soon after, it’s possible to make out enough of one’s surroundings not to require a lamp, even a red one. I use a white light to hitch up the dogs but change to a red one once we get underway so that my eyes can become accustomed to the darkness. I eat enough carrots so I should see well in the mornings.
Back at the camping, I put all but Skinny and Isabella inside. Luis was a little tardy and I’d been looking out for him as we walked back but he must have been a lot closer than I supposed. Small dog…
I set the workout for one hour and we ventured off for another investigation of the river and valley. This time we explored the eastern bank until we encountered a fence so had to climb back down to the river bed which we followed for a couple of hundred meters or so. The going was rougher and comparatively slow so we clambered up onto the west side and continued up the track heading north. There were some largish birds flying from the craggy outcrops nearby. It was difficult to judge but they seemed quite sizeable birds. Noisy too!
After about thirty minutes we turned around and headed back joining the river bed and following it all the way under the road bridge to where it comes out on the beach. There we took the road which runs parallel to the beach and leads eventually to the field which we cross to get back to the compound. At no time was Isabella on the lead and I called her only a couple of times when she became over-interested in a decaying goat. Skinny went off yesterday so was on all the time today as I didn’t have time to mess around after him.
I cycled into Petrakis to buy some vegetables and returned with some spinach and a cauliflower as well as oranges, ginger and some more garlic. I think we’ve fallen back through a time-warp as only some members of staff wear gloves and I don’t recall seeing anyone wearing a mask. It’s difficult to be focussed when there are so few cases on the island. Things may change where ‘foreigners’ start to arrive from Athens and the mainland.
I let out the dogs and fed them before preparing breakfast for myself. I spent the remainder of the morning researching Webcams for Simon Lawrence as he has a series of remote conferences over the next couple of weeks and doesn’t have any video conferencing equipment. Due to lockdown, there has been a run on webcams and wireless headsets so it’s hard to find kit at a reasonable price or at all. I suspect that, in light of recent experiences, people are going to get used to remote working and enjoy not having to fly halfway around the world or commute miles for a meeting which might last only a couple of hours. Better for the individual and for the Planet too.
The remainder of the day passed by, the dogs were reasonably quiet and I got some other jobs out of the way. Doggy Dinners were prepared and consigned to the instant Pot for a long, slow cook courtesy of the sun.
The day has been generally undemanding and the weather warm and sunny with a high of 28.8℃. The forecast for the next few days is for slightly cooler weather getting warmer for the Grand Reopening next Monday!
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